Trans Fats ‘Breaking’ Lots Of Hearts Across Europe

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We are not talking about some love affair gone wrong here but the heart health of millions of Europeans, who are suffering the effects of trans fatty acids, fed in the packaged and fast foods.

Nobody listens when they are told that fast foods eventually take a toll on the heart, especially the trans fatty acids (TFAs), which are being sold, in the form of fast food and conveniently packaged foods. And since Europe is not very strict with the extent of TFA in food, the situation is spinning out of control.

The TFA are basically produced when large amounts of hydrogenated vegetable oils are repeatedly used to fry batches of foods, continuously. As a result, the fast food company and those manufacturing packaged foods, use this technique to a large extent.

Well, research, carried out by the “Department of Clinical Biochemistry at Copenhagen University Hospital” in Denmark, shows that using large quantities of hydrogenated oil not only saves time but also puts you at a 23% more risk of coronary heart disease. The research placed foods that were made with “partially hydrogenated vegetable fat” on top of the list of foods causing heart disease among Europeans. Prominent foods that were found to be notorious for the rising levels of coronary heart disease include French fries, chicken nuggets, cakes, wafers, etc.

With just a few European countries, like Austria, Denmark, Iceland, and Switzerland, having implemented legislation to limit the amount of TFAs in food, majority of Europeans are at risk of heart disease, owing to their unhealthy eating habits.